The strain of foot and mouth disease found on a farm in southern England is "likely" to be the same as that found in two previous outbreaks in July and August, the ministry of agriculture said today.
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| A British government official at the entrance to the farm in Egham, Surrey, which is at the centre of the latest foot-and-mouth outbreak |
Initial tests on the latest foot and mouth virus found in cattle indicate it is the same strain as the one which caused last month's outbreak, Defra said today.
A spokesman for the department said it was "likely" the virus found near Egham, Surrey, was the same as the one which caused the previous cases on two farms 10 miles away near Pirbright.
The spokesman said: "We will not be able to confirm the full virus strain until all sequencing is completed. This is currently in progress.
"We do not have a timetable for when these final results will be received." The news comes as ministers insisted they had not been too quick to declare the country foot and mouth free following the previous outbreak - which was blamed on a leak from a laboratory site at Pirbright.
The new infection of cattle on farm land in Egham, Surrey, came just a week after Environment Secretary Hilary Benn declared Britain to be free of the disease.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was this morning chairing a meeting of the Cabinet's emergency Cobra committee to discuss the latest outbreak. The meeting was also attended by Mr Benn, the chief vet and other experts.
Downing Street defended the decision to give the all clear after the previous outbreak. Mr Brown's spokesman said: "This was a decision that was made on the basis of scientific evidence. It was a decision made by the chief vet and it was a decision supported by many academic experts."
The spokesman said there was "absolutely no truth" in any suggestion political pressure had been applied to influence the chief vet to declare the country foot and mouth free.
The area involved in the new outbreak is grazing land attached to Milton Park Farm, with the animals there owned by another farm, Hardwick Park Farm. The cattle were culled as a precaution following symptoms of the highly infectious disease.
A second "precautionary" cull of animals on land next to the farm was ordered last night on suspicion they too had been infected following animal health inspections after the first outbreak.
And today blue-suited Defra officials cordoned off Stroude Farm on Stroude Road, not far from the site of the initial outbreak on fields behind Milton Park Farm.
Protection and surveillance zones are now in place to try to contain it and most of Windsor Great Park, which is inside the 10km surveillance zone, has been closed to the public.